Dine or Dash

CAVIAR & BANANAS DEBUTS 10 NEW MOUTHWATERING CREATIONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Caviar & Bananas, Charleston’s beloved gourmet market & café, is introducing an outstanding new lineup of sandwiches, ranging from hearty to healthy and sure to satisfy all with fresh new ingredients and flavors.

by Robin Riebman All of the dishes on Lana's menu are “old-world” inspired with a dramatic presentation. New seasonal preparations include a housemade potato gnocchi and Italian sausage with Calabrese peppers, shaved parmesan, broccoli and toasted bread crumbs, Short Rib prepared with roasted cauliflower and a red wine jus, a Shrimp “Cassoulet”, and Scallops with bagna cauda.

A friend of mine asked me where we went for dinner the night we hit Xiao Bao Biscuit. First he asked me to repeat the name of the restaurant because, well, let’s face it, it does have an unusual name.

Then he asked me to repeat where the restaurant was, because, well, let’s face it, up until a couple of years ago, there was nothing there on the corner of Spring and Rutledge. In fact, XBB’s digs used to be a gas station (the pump island is still in the parking lot).

Growing up in Dayton, Ohio, the indoctrination about the feats of the illustrious Wright Brothers began essentially as soon as we five-year-olds walked into our kindergarten classes. Fascinating stories about how a wondrous flying machine evolved in the minds of Orville and Wilbur in their little bike shop in 1903 permeated our little minds, and Dayton has been on the map forever since that blustery day at Kitty Hawk.

By now, Wayne’s World in its theatrical form has been around for more than twenty years, so this article’s title refers to a phrase that probably should be relegated to the dustbin of history (or at least, lumped together with other tired movie lines that haven’t quite held up over the last couple of decades). May I please borrow said phrase for just a few moments of your time, if only to explain what its original message was?

To refresh your collective memories regarding the movie, Wayne and Garth come across legendary rocker Alice Cooper in full regalia and announce that they cannot occupy the same spatial vicinity with this one Mr. Cooper without exalting him with breathless praise. Only it’s not breathless, it’s shouting. “We’re not worthy!! We’re not worthy!!”

Upon hearing that the selection for Dine or Dash this issue was The Sloppy Cow, I was ecstatic. I do so enjoy checking out restaurants that are gourmet versions of extremely casual fare (i.e. the burger joint) because I am always keen to find out how a staple of our sad American diet gets jazzed up. It would seem that the founders of a restaurant that was named after an unkempt bovine probably had the same mindset I did, and the idea that they weren’t taking themselves too seriously was a welcome bonus regarding their self-awareness that I appreciated.

I have been meaning to get over to Wild Olive ever since my impromptu move to the Charleston area. Living only a matter of minutes away, should have brought me to this John’s Island hotspot long before now. The time had come though. And so had the rain. Watching kayakers floating down King Street and in the Marketplace, I almost decided to forego the drive. After being housebound for the day, my cabin fever outweighed my trepidation. Fortunately the drive was damp, but not dangerous and the parking lot at Wild Olive was a large puddle, not a lake. By the time I made it to the welcoming flower cart outside the entrance, I was happy that I had made the effort.

The original Santi's, on Meeting Street, has been around for quite some time. It took them opening their newest location, in Mount Pleasant, to reinvigorate my curiosity. So, on a mission, I ventured out in the summer heat to the beloved Santi's on the South Side of the Ravenel.

When I arrived on James Island in the summer of 1999, my first residence was just down the street from the Terrace Plaza in the 1900 block of Maybank Highway. For a little while, I was frequenting this mini-shopping center for its ubiquitous laundromat that seemed to consume all of us washer & dryer have-nots in the area, but I always found the rest of the square to be a curious oddity, one laden with culture in the midst of a community that was evolving from a backwater suburb to one of the more desirable locales in the area. The little art theater and an upscale furniture store anchored the place, and soon the other storefronts began to reflect the spirit of sophistication that was beginning to permeate the island’s western end.

On a mission, after a grueling Saturday night at work, my friend and I decided to hit up the "honest to goodness" sandwiches at Butcher & Bee. I had previously staked out the whereabouts and was sure I knew where I was going. We drove back and forth under the overpass on King Street a total of six times. Yes, sad, I know. I guess I should have heeded their Facebook® page that directs — "Ask your pedicab driver to take you towards the Recovery Room and look right."

For anyone that thinks a hotdog is just a hotdog, take it from me — "the un-convinced of anything hotdog" — that you may want to check out the Tin Roof off Hwy 61 in West Ashley. My dining companion for this particular adventure considers herself a 'dog' connoisseur and I thought her inclusion only fair to contrast my derision for this American culinary all-star. I blame a childhood of boiled wieners, canned kraut and soggy buns. In fact, it was only my curiosity about some fanatical praise I had recently heard for this restaurant and it's dogs that got me here.

A short drive down Highway 17 South, in West Ashley, you’ll find The Glass Onion. Under its signage, “Soulful Food” appears in small letters. Soulful is exactly what you will get, but don’t expect the experience to be as diminutive as the lettering.

Up Highway 17, across from Park West and tucked away in a small shopping center next to Charleston Nation- al, sits Souri’s Italian Bistro whose slogan is “Passion for Great Italian Food”. I have come to Souri’s on the recommendation of a friend, who tells me the Italian food here is fabulous.